Byzantine Archaeology

Over the past fifty years, archaeological excavations in Israel have unearthed about half a dozen ancient synagogues that were in use at different points in time between the first century BCE through the outbreak of the Bar-Kochba rebellion early in the second century of the Common Era.  In close proximity to each of these synagogues, a mikveh (ritual bath) has been discovered.  In contrast, no mikvaot have been discovered adjacent to any of the dozens of later synagogues that have been excavated and studied, with only one or two possible exceptions. 
At this point it is impossible to determine exactly when mikvaot ceased to be built in connection with synagogues, as the archaeological record reports very little about synagogues of the late second - early third century CE.  From an archaeological perspective, it is clear that at least from the second half of the third century, synagogues began to be built without regard for proximity to mikvaot.
Talmudic sources make no mention of a requirement to build mikvaot adjacent to synagogues. To date, no satisfactory explanation has been given for the evident connection between the synagogue and the mikveh in the early period, and the disappearance of such a connection in later periods of synagogue history. The objective of this paper is to present and explore a possible interpretation of this puzzling phenomenon.
  During the Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, a rabbinical enactment was in effect requiring mikveh ablutions prior to engagement in Torah study and prayer for individuals who had experienced seminal emission. Careful study of the Talmudic sources reveals that this enactment was nullified early in the Amoraic Period, sometime during the second quarter of the third century CE.
It would appear that the mikvaot built adjacent to the earlier synagogues were intended for this precise function, serving visitors to the synagogue who required ritual ablutions prior to Torah study and prayer.  Once the rabbinical enactment regarding these ablutions was nullified, there was no longer need for such mikvaot, and hence the absence of mikvaot in proximity to the later synagogues.

Taft R. F. The Great Entrance. A History of the Transfer of Gifts and other Preanaphoral Rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. [A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, vol. II]. Roma, 1975. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta; 200).

The Caucasian Archaeology of the Holy Land investigates the complete corpus of available literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence of the Armenian, Georgian and Caucasian Albanian Christian communities’ activity in the Holy Land during the Byzantine and the Early Islamic periods. For the first time, the book presents an integrated approach to literary sources and numerous archaeological evidences, previously
unpublished or revised. The study explores the place of each of these Caucasian communities in ancient Palestine through synthesis of literary and material evidence and seeks to understand the interrelations between them and the influence they had on the national churches of the Caucasus.

This book explores the Byzantine city and the changes it went through from 610 to 1204. Throughout this period, cities were always the centers of political and social life for both secular and religious authorities, and, furthermore, the focus of the economic interests of local landowning elites.

This book therefore examines the regional and subregional trajectories in the urban function, landscape, structure and fabric of Byzantium’s cities, synthesizing the most cutting-edge archaeological excavations, the results of analyses of material culture (including ceramics, coins, and seals) and a reassessment of the documentary and hagiographical sources. The transformation the Byzantine urban landscape underwent from the seventh to thirteenth centuries can afford us a better grasp of changes to the Byzantine central and provincial administrative apparatus; their fiscal machinery, military institutions, socio-economic structures and religious organization. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of the history, archaeology and architecture of Byzantium.

Conclusions about the duration of participation in the circulation of the
coins from the 6th–7th centuries are presented by analysing the coin composition of the collective finds from the studied period. The results show that the life span of specimens from this period is 60–80 years, even up to 100 years, as other researchers have also concluded. However, it was established that the coins minted between 527 and 602 AD circulated for half this time (i.e. 30–60 years) and dropped out of circulation within the same period (ca. 602 to ca. 629 AD). This time coincides with some administrative reforms in the organisation of the
production of coins, but also with the production and distribution of an extremely large number of newly minted coins of gold, silver and bronze. These observations allow us to argue that, after 602 AD, a new monetary policy was formed in Byzantium, which had two main goals. Firstly, to increase the revenues from the production of coins and their subsequent
distribution (by increasing the volume of coins produced and putting them in circulation, which necessitated the withdrawal from circulation of the ‘old’ coins). And, secondly, to optimise the production costs (by overstriking old coins, reducing the volume of bronze coinage, closing of mints and concentrating the production in Constantinople).

Hadrianopolis is a site located on the principal western route from the Central Anatolian plain through the mountains to Bartın and the Black Sea, 3 km west of the modern town of Eskipazar, near Karabük, in what was in Roman times southwestern Paphlagonia (modern northwestern central Turkey). This site was a small but important city, controlling this major route and dominating a rich agricultural and especially vinicultural enclave on the borders between Paphlagonia, Bithynia and Galatia. Between 2005 and 2008, four survey, excavation and restoration campaigns were conducted at this Roman and early Byzantine site by Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir. As a result of the 2005 surveys of the area, it was confi rmed that Hadrianopolis was indeed coincident with Viranşehir, which is located c. 3 km west of modern Eskipazar and was active between the 1st cent. BC. and the 8th cent. AD. The fi eld surveys in 2005 identifi ed the remains of at least 24 buildings at the site. Among them are two bath buildings, two basilicas, a domus, an apsidal building, a fortifi ed structure of the Byzantine period, a possible theatre, a vaulted building, a domed building and some domestic buildings, most of which were paved with extensive mosaic floors. Following the publication of the inscriptions (Hadrianopolis I), glass (Hadrianopolis II), and pottery fi nds (Hadrianopolis III), the present volume IV of this multi-volume report is devoted to the early Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from this site, which have been dated mainly to the 6th and 7th cent. AD. The main find spots for mosaics and frescoes are Baths A, Baths B, Basilica A, Basilica B, the Apsidal Building and the Domus. One of the most remarkable discoveries was undoubtedly the floor mosaic of the nave of Basilica B, which displays personifi cations of the Four Rivers of Paradise: Euphrates, Tigris, Phison and Geon.

Composite Belts in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Basin. Composite belts are a special and characteristic form of early medieval dress accessories. They were believed to have a nomadic origin for several decades, but currently a strong Byzantine influence is favoured. However, the material evidence indicates a clear geographical
concentration in the Black Sea region and on the Danube frontier as well as on the northern Barbarian periphery. Metal fittings of composite belts from the eastern and southern provinces of the Byzantine Empire were quite rare or almost entirely lacking. However, finds from recent excavations in the Near East and a num ber of still unpublished finds in various North African museums suggest that the composite belts were widely known in the Byzantine world. Nevertheless, their limited number compared to simple belt sets indicates that this type was not for daily use, but restricted to a certain circle of wearers. Although difficult to prove because of a lack of clear-cut contexts, the military use of composite belt seems likely.

Concerning Byzantine Edged Weapons of the Late 6th and 7th Centuries:
Swords with Bronze Guard of the Type Aradac-Kölked-Corinth
The article focuses on the long swords (spathae) from three south-eastern European soldiers’ graves of the period around 600 and the first half of the 7th century, which differ from contemporaneous swords of the region as a result of a solid, bronze guard with extended ends. The unusual shape, the material, the Greek provenance of one of the graves, as well as parallel finds from single pieces of guards from Pergamum and Cyprus have led researchers for a long time to assume that we are dealing with Early Byzantine swords or sword parts.

Anazarbos günümüzde Kadirli-Kozan ve Ceyhan İlçelerinin birleştiği bir konumda yer almaktadır. Tarihsel süreç içinde defalarca çeşitli uluslar tarafından ele geçirilmiş ve kaybedilmiş bir kenttir.
MS. 204/205 yıllarından itibaren Anazarbos’un Metropolis ünvanını taşıdığı bilinmektedir. Kent imparator II. Theodosius’ un Dönemi’nde thema teşkilatında yapılan düzenleme sonucunda MS. 408 yılında Ovalık
Kilikya’nın “Cilicia Prima” ve “ Cilicia Secunda” olarak ayrılması sonucunda Anazarbos “Clicia Secunda’nın”
başkenti olmuştur. Bu süreçte özellikle Geç Antik Dönemde tüm Kilikya Bölgesinde yaşanan ekonomik
büyüme ile birlikte kentlerde yapılan kilise sayılarında artışın izleri Anazarbos Kenti’nde de görülmektedir.
Erken Hristiyanlık Dönemi’nde Anazarbos metropolitlerinin MS. 5. yüzyıl başından itibaren 6. yüzyıl ortasına kadar yapılan konsillere katıldıkları kaynaklardan bilinmektedir
Anazarbos Kenti’nde Bizans Dönemi’ne ait yapıların araştırılması 1905 yıllarından itibaren başlamış ve
günümüze kadar devan eden bir süreç içinde devam etmektedir. Kente, Bizans Dönemi’ne ait Havariler Kilisesi, Güneybatı Kilisesi, Kaya Oyma Kilise ve son dönemlerde jeofizik yöntemiyle tespit edilen Aziz Menas
Martyrionu? olduğu düşünülen yapı bulunmaktadır. Bunların yanı sıra sivil mimariye ait su kemeri(akuadük) yapısı çalışma konumuzu oluşturmaktadır.
Çalışmadaki amacımız Anazarbos Kenti Bizans Dönemi’ne ait yapıların kaynaklar üzerinden değerlendirmelerinin yapılmasıdır. Şimdiye kadar yayınlanan Bizans Dönemi’ne ait yapılar ile ilgili makaleler, kitap bölümlerinde yer alan yapılara ait bilgiler incelenmiştir. Bu inceleme sonrasında kentte bulunan dini ve sivil mimariye ait örneklerin MS. 5. yüzyıl başından başlayarak MS. 6. yüzyıl ilk yarısına tarihlendirildiği tespit
edilmiştir

In 538, at the peak of his imperial achievement, Justinian introduced an impressive
coinage of unusual size and weight. Based on the evidence of hoards and single finds from the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Near East, the economic implications of Justinian’s heavy series (538-542) appear in a new light. Its prolonged circulation and important percentage among finds from the Balkans, in particular, changes our understanding of the role played by this coinage during the sixth century and adds new dimensions to the fiduciary nature of the early Byzantine bronze coinage.

Despite the growing body of excavation finds and the steady publication of museum collections, the numismatic evidence remains an underutilized historical source. Historians who study Late Antiquity rely on archaeological evidence but tend to ignore coin finds, partly because numismatics developed as an independent field with its own set of specialized tools and research questions. Insufficient dialogue between the disciplines has delayed a proper appreciation of Early Byzantine coins as historical source and the development of a clear methodology for their use in conjunction with the literary and archaeological evidence. In order to overcome such disciplinary divides, this paper proposes several research directions by highlighting the main benefits of integrating the numismatic evidence more fully into the historical narrative. These research directions include a greater emphasis on bronze coinage, the study of the long-distance circulation of people and goods, and distinctions between urban, rural, and fortified contexts. This methodological discussion is followed by a case study from Byzantium's Lower Danube frontier.

Historians have long regarded Maurice Tiberius as the last Roman emperor who struggled to restore the stability of the Balkan provinces. This essay argues that a major financial crisis is responsible for the downfall of Maurice and the collapse of the Danube frontier after 602. Maurice inherited a depleted treasury and a war conducted on two fronts, in the Balkans and the East. A careful analysis of the emperor’s monetary policy during his long reign reveals a chronic shortage of cash, which the emperor tried to solve through a series of unsuccessful reforms. The body of coin finds from the Northern Balkans shows an abrupt decline in the coin supply during the second decade of Maurice’s reign, when Roman armies were once again active in the Danube region. The state’s inability to provide adequate supplies and regular payments to the soldiers led to the mutiny of 602. The emperor’s decision to force his army to spend the winter in enemy territory was simply the last straw that broke the soldiers’ loyalty to the emperor.

Alabanda Ancient City takes place in Araphisar Street from Doğanyurt Village in the 7 km west of Çine Town, Aydın City. The city settled down on the foothill of the hills in the north of Gökbel Mountain, is positioned close by the Marsyas River. The ancient city having wetland wide lowlands suitable for agriculture shows a non-stop settlement by beginning from the 2nd Millenium B. C. until today. While there are archeological materials and evidences about the Ancient Period of Alabanda and they are known and evaluated by the scientific world, the information about the late Ancient Period and that of the period after it are almost non-existing. As throughout the Ancient World, Alabanda has also kept its presence by changing after the 4th Century A. D. In the excavation, research and conservation works we have carried out since 2011, unsuspected concrete archeological data were achieved about Alabanda after Ancient Period. It was documented that the city were smaller by almost half and were surrounded by new city walls, and it was determined that public buildings such as theater, bath and temple, were used for different functions by changing architecturally. As we can see the sample of it in a lot of ancient religious settlement, Alabanda Apollon Isotimos Temple were changed into a church and the cella of the temple was used as baptistery. Column capitals, relief-adorned parapets, mosaics, the city walls built with Spolia blocks inform us about Alabanda in the Early Christian Period and in the Medieval Period. Byzantine and Islamic glazed potteries presenting a very rich repertoire and various coins belonging to Byzantine Period and Anatolian Principalities give us clues about the socio-economic situation of Medieval Alabanda. In this notice, archeological materials and evidences, which were achieved after a 3-year work and which are providing valuable information about the Medieval Alabanda, will be briefly introduced and those unsuspected data will be presented to the attention and knowledge of scientific world.

The surveys conducted show a pattern of dense settlement
in the Troad, which far exceeds the number of settlements
today. In Late Antiquity and early Byzantine times, many of
the settlements were located along the coast. Of these, the
villages were abandoned from the 7th century onwards and
the inhabitants preferred peripheral locations in the fertile
river valleys of the interior. In Late Antiquity and the early
Byzantine era, the livelihood of the inhabitants consisted of
fishing, agriculture, quarrying and trade. In the late Byzantine
period, in addition to livestock farming and agriculture, there
was also the mining of ore.

Bu çalışma, "Ardahan Kale ve Kuleleri" adlı kitabın bölümlerinden biridir. Bu kitap içi bölümde, Ardahan'ın Eskiçağ'dan Türk fetihlerine kadar tarihçesi üzerinde durulmuş ve şehrin isminin kökenine ilişkin bir başlığa yer verilmiştir.
  Son yıllarda yapılan bilimsel araştırmalarla birlikte Eskiçağ ve Ortaçağ arkeolojik vaziyetinin Transkafkasya (Güney Kafkasya) arkeolojisiyle
oldukça örtüştüğü anlaşılan Ardahan, Doğu Karadeniz ve Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Bölgeleri ile Transkafkasya’yı birleştiren stratejik bir coğrafi konuma sahiptir. Batıda Karadeniz sahil şeridinin son ili Artvin ile
komşu olan Ardahan’ın güneyinde Erzurum ve Kars illeri, kuzeydoğusunda Gürcistan ve doğusunda Ermenistan yer alır. Transkafkasya ülkelerinde, özellikle Tunç ve Demir Çağları kültürlerine ilişkin hatırı sayılır araştırma ve arkeolojik kazı yapılmışsa da bu bölgenin komşusu olan Kuzeydoğu Anadolu için aynı değerlendirmeyi ne yazık ki yapamamaktayız. Özellikle Ardahan ili, Anadolu coğrafyasında arkeolojik araştırmaların en az yürütüldüğü yerlerden biri olmuştur. Bu nedenle şehrin tarihi ve arkeolojik geçmişi üzerine toplanan veriler, akademik anlamda tatmin edici bir düzeye erişememiştir. Yine de inanıyoruz ki, 2008 yılında kurulan Ardahan Üniversitesinin bünyesinde gerçekleştirilmekte olan ve yakın gelecekte daha da kapsamlı bir şekilde sürdürülecek bilimsel çalışmalar, şehrin tarihi, sanat tarihi ve arkeolojik
dokusunu çok daha detaylı bir şekilde yansıtacaktır.

""Archaeologist, Teacher, Friend. Nicolai Telnov’s Anniversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

MONOGRAPH INSIDE THE JOURNAL
N. V. Zhilina (Moscow, Russia). Stamped Jewel Attire Reconstructed Based on Old Rus Hoards of 10th — 13th Centuries (from the ornamental stamping to the emblem of the princely power). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
V. Ivanišević (Belgrad, Serbia), M. Kazanski (Paris, France). Justinian’s Heruli in Northern
Illyricum and Their Archaeological Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
N. D. Russev (Kishinev, Moldova). North-Eastern Possessions of the First Bulgarian Kingdom in 7th—10th cc.: History and Burial Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
A. V. Kurbatov (St.-Petersburg, Russia). Raw materials for leather crafts, technical means
for leather processing and assortment of leathers in Mediaeval Rus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

JEWELLER’S CRAFT
A. G. Shpilev (Kursk, Russia). Adornments of Romny Time from Kursk Oblast
(second half of 8th — late 10th cc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Y. V. Stepanova (Tver’, Russia). Temple Rings from Ancient Russian Rural Archaeological Sites in the Upper Volga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
S. S. Ryabtseva (St.-Petersburg, Russia — Kishinev, Moldova), N. P. Telnov (Kishinev, Moldova). A Hoard from Alcedar and Centers of Jewellery Industry in Eastern Europe in late 9th — early 11th Centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
А. Boldureanu (Kishinev, Moldova). The Byzantine and Islamic Coins from Alcedar Hoard . . . 301

ARCHAEOLOGY OF REPRESENTATIONS
Y. V. Mysko, S. V. Pyvovarov (Chernivtsi, Ukraine). Finds of Knives with Curls on the Handles in the Region of the Upper Prut and the Middle Dniester . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 309
I. Berdzenishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia). Early Christians in Abkhazia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
References Transliterated from Cyrillic into Latin Alphabet 329
Requirements to contributions to Stratum plus. 345

Содержание

AD GLORIAM 

Р. А. Рабинович (Кишинев, Молдова), С. С. Рябцева (Санкт-Петербург, Россия — Кишинев, Молдова)
Археолог. Учитель. Друг. К юбилею Николая Петровича Тельнова 15

МОНОГРАФИЯ В ЖУРНАЛЕ 

Н. В. Жилина (Москва, Россия)
Тисненый убор по древнерусским кладам X—XIII вв. (от орнаментального рифления до эмблемы княжеской власти) 23

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ И ПУБЛИКАЦИИ 

В. Иванишевич (Белград, Сербия), М. Казанский (Париж, Франция)
Герулы Юстиниана в Северном Иллирикуме и их археологические следы 147
Н. Д. Руссев (Кишинёв, Молдова)
Северо-восточные владения Дунайской Болгарии VII—X вв.: история и погребальные памятники 159
А. В. Курбатов (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Кожевенное сырье, техническое обеспечение его выделки и сортамент кож средневековой Руси 169

ЮВЕЛИРНОЕ ДЕЛО 

А. Г. Шпилев (Курск, Россия)
Украшения роменского времени из Курской области (вторая половина VIII — конец X вв.) 221
Ю. В. Степанова (Тверь, Россия)
Височные кольца из древнерусских сельских памятников Верхневолжья 275
С. С. Рябцева (Санкт-Петербург, Россия — Кишинёв, Молдова), Н. П. Тельнов (Кишинёв, Молдова)
Алчедарский клад и центры ювелирного производства Восточной Европы конца IX — начала XI вв. 285
А. Болдуряну (Кишинёв, Молдова)
Византийские и исламские монеты из Алчедарского клада 301

АРХЕОЛОГИЯ ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЙ 

Ю. В. Мысько, С. В. Пивоваров (Черновцы, Украина)
Находки ножей с волютообразными навершиями в Верхнем Попрутье и Среднем Поднестровье 309
И. Бердзенишвили (Тбилиси, Грузия)
Раннее христианство в Абхазии 317

ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ 

Список сокращений325
References Transliterated from Cyrillic into Latin Alphabet327
Требования к материалам, предоставляемым в редакцию журнала «Stratum plus»
Требования 341

"In his recent book „The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean“ (Cambridge 2012), Ronnie Ellenblum argues that a series of climatic disasters in the 11th cent. led to the decline of polities in the Near East and prepared the ground for both the advance of the Seljuks and of the Crusaders into the region. Focused on the Byzantine case during the „Comnenian period“, this paper will critically review this hypothesis on the basis of both textual and natural scientific evidence and propose a more nuanced picture of the interplay between society, climate and environment in the Eastern Mediterranean from the 11th to the 13th century. As will become clear, neither the complexity of natural phenomena nor the complexity of medieval societies should be reduced to mere linear lines of causation.
This research was made possible with support of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit-Foundation during a stay at the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens.
The following pages provide a first short overview over some material to be presented and discussed in this lecture.
Contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at
"

NEW SUBTERRANEAN FINDINGS UNDER HAGIA SOPHIA

This  archaeological survey has been directed by Dr. Çiğdem Özkan Aygün on behalf  of Istanbul Technical University (ITU) since 2005. The research sofar covers the cisterns, water distribution channels/galleries and the distribution systems  in the area of today’s Hagia Sophia Museum, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul Archaeological Museums and Hippodrome. This zone refers to the acropole of the ancient settlement  and first hill of East Roman city.
Since 2009 one guy who have no education in the field with a friend of him claim that they have been conducting a 20 years of research, and shooting a documentary called ‘ Beneath the Hagia Sophia’. He also declared pseudo information as if he had found ‘ the hypogeum, secret channels, graves, bones of saints and patriarchs  a cyripto room where the secret letters were kept. He takes place vastly on mass media in Turkey and fake informations spreads around through internet. He even finds place in the book of Interno by Dan Brown through a copy-past passage from Hürriyet Daily News Paper.
In his website and through mass media he asks for financial support for his exploration-documentary and claims with his own words, ‘’the people /company who are going to help me … will be remembered and their name will be written in the infinite era’’.

Sur les marges arides du Croissant fertile, la Badiya syrienne, domaine de steppe aride, a été occupée par l’Homme depuis le
néolithique. Mais l’expansion maximale du peuplement et de la mise
en valeur correspond à la période byzantine, avec une prise en compte exceptionnelle des contraintes d’aridité spécifiques à la région. Est alors développé un réseau complexe de qanats (galeries drainantes souterraines) vouées pour l’essentiel à l’irrigation. La réoccupation de la région à l’époque contemporaine se fondera sur ce réseau antique qui en assurera la prospérité jusqu’à l’introduction des pompes à moteur. Celles-ci, exploitant les mêmes ressources en eau que les qanats, sonneront le glas de ces dernières tout en permettant une meilleure rentabilisation de la ressource.